Iggy the Chocobo
by The Real Rina
Summary: In which chocobos ruin Noctis' life, Ignis suffers silently, and Prompto's confused as hell. Oh, and Gladio's just laughing in the background.
1. Chapter 1

They had just finished their meals, sitting around the campfire in various states of wake. Ignis began gathering plates while Gladio looked on into the distance, presumably keeping watch. Prompto had long fallen asleep in his chair, head lolled back and drooling. The bird version of him lay curled beside him, while Gladio's bright pink chocobo lay on the other side of Prompto. Ignis' blue chocobo was hogging the fire's warmth, while Noctis and his own grey chocobo dozed on the opposite side.

"Bout time we head in, don'tcha think?" Gladio called out to Ignis, nodding towards the tent.

"Let me just finish this up," Ignis gestured to the pile of dirty dishes in his hand. Gladio grunted in agreement, then proceeded to grab Prompto by the back of his collar and drag him into the tent.

"Wh-whoa! Wait up, where's the fire?!" the blonde startled, swinging gangly limbs everywhere and alarming the sleeping chocobos.

"You were never going to wake up anyways."

"I was having a nice dream 'bout Cindy…" Prompto grumbled and was soon cut off after the pair slipped past the tent entrance.

Ignis turned to Noctis, who seemed completely asleep if it weren't for the occasional swatting at flies near his face. Ignis took his mostly empty plates and crouched over him. "Come now prince, you'll catch a cold out here."

"Mn. Don't wanna," Noctis mumbled, burrowing further into grey feathers.

"Noct."

"… 's warm enough. Lemme stay with Iggy for a bit," he yawned as he patted the chocobo's side lovingly.

Ignis huffed. "Why you chose to name him after me, I'll never know." After a moment's deliberation, he continued. "He's not even the right color!"

"Your hair looks kinda grey sometimes. How does it do that?" The prince furrowed his brow, then smiled deliriously with sleep. "Look at your hair, Specs. Prompto isn't the only one who looks like a chocobo."

"Har, har. Now are you done inconveniencing the poor bird?"

Noctis lazily turned his head to look at the sleeping chocobo, then back at Ignis. Without giving it much thought, he said what he thought would be a playful quip. "What, you jealous I'm sleeping with this Iggy and not you?"

The other just stared, eyes like saucers and lips set in a firm line.

Noctis kept smirking, until he noticed Ignis' awkward demeanor and the smirk melted away. "A-ah! That's not what-"

Ignis turned on his heels, walking towards the tent already. "Just don't stay out too long," He called out, voice suddenly hoarse.

"…Fuuuuuuuck…" Noctis moaned and shoved his burning face into his hands.

* * *

The next time was a lot more innocent, but still just as embarrassing.

The boys had been scouting the place, searching for vegetables and herbs while keeping on the lookout for a bounty nearby. The atmosphere between the to-be king and his advisor was still a little awkward, but if the other two noticed it, they chose not to say anything.

The bounty didn't prove to be too hard, and once that was done and over with, Noctis called the chocobos back with the chocobo whistle.

It was getting exceedingly difficult for Ignis to know when Noctis was talking about him, or his beloved bird. This time was no exception.

"C'mere Iggy," Noctis called out with his back turned to the bespectacled man. Ignis just made his way over, and lo and behold, Noctis was motioning to the grey chocobo. Ignis simply shook his head and turned to leave, but stopped dead in his tracks once he heard Noctis' sickly sweet tone.

"Hey, Iggy. How are ya, sweetie?"

Ignis almost choked. Almost. However, he stood quietly, stiffly, and slowly turned back to see the younger ruffling grey feathers playfully.

"Didja miss me? Oh, I know, I know. You're such a cutie, Iggy-"

And the only thing that stopped Noctis from continuing to baby the chocobo was Gladio's booming laughter. Noctis turned to see what was so funny and locked eyes with Ignis. In the light, Noctis could notice Ignis' face turning a dusty pink.

His eyes snapped over to where Gladio was doubled over, no doubt tearing up. Prompto stood by his side, hand over his mouth and shaking with unheard laughter. The blonde snorted, couldn't take it anymore, and leaned into Gladio, joining him in the hilarity.

"Guys! Don't sneak up on me like that!" The pair continued to laugh while Ignis looked increasingly uncomfortable, shuffling his feet. "It isn't funny!" Noctis whined. Meanwhile, the chocobos just squawked, tilting their heads to the side.

"We should be reporting back to a tipster soon," Ignis reminded them, refusing to make eye contact and stare at the road not far from there.

"Yeah, yeah! It'll get dark soon! Let's- let's just go," Noctis hurried to climb onto his chocobo, urging the others to do the same.

"Of course, your highness," Gladio chuckled, finally settling down. He looked over to grin at Ignis. "Let's go 'cutie'," the behemoth of a man couldn't help himself. He received two glares for his trouble.

"Cram it!" Noctis yelled at the same time Ignis hissed, "Not now, Gladiolus!"

Prompto just carried along behind them, snapping a few shots to eternalize this moment.

* * *

This instance was probably the worst, especially out-of-context.

Their cute bird friends weren't even around this time and they still managed to wreak havoc on Ignis' and Noctis' relationship.

Noctis was out fishing and to pass the time, Prompto started going through his roll of pictures and debating on which ones to keep. Gladio leaned over, taking interest in Prompto's camera.

"Watcha got there? Looking to shoot some more shots?" Gladio grinned, pointed his thumb at his face as if to make an example. Prompted, the shorter snapped a quick picture and couldn't keep the infectious smile from getting to him. "Yo, let me see!"

"All right, all right, calm down you giant," Prompto waved him over and together they scrolled through the gallery.

"Ey, why're there so many pictures of Specs? You got a secret man-crush?" Gladio teased, nudging him with his elbow and almost knocking Prompto over.

"Nuh-uh!" The other shouted, causing the advisor and his prince to look over from their spot on the dock. Prompto just waved them off, laughing weakly, while Gladio stood behind him and smirked.

The blonde swiveled around to glare at the taller. "Could you be any louder?!" He hissed.

"So, do you?" Gladio wiggled his eyebrows.

"No! It's just, Iggy's really pretty, don't you think? Even with his uh, amazing hair."

"I think that's you crushing pretty hard."

"No, no, no! Ugh you don't understand, it's like, an art thing. He's like my muse or something, I don't know," Prompto shrugged, ears turned red. "Ah! But I mean I still think you look cool, too!"

Gladio scoffed. "Of course, I'm the coolest." The blonde simply rolled his eyes, no doubt a move he picked up from Noctis. "Why don't you take pictures of yourself more?" Gladio decided to give him a break and change the subject.

"Ah, um. Well. I don't know. Uh. Should I?" He looked to the side, suddenly looking somber.

Gladio patted him on the back, this time trying to reign in his strength. "C'mon, it's not a party without you. Gotta include yourself, too!" Then, he slightly pushed him forward, indicating they walk towards the others. Prompto smiled despite himself.

"Yeah, ok. Anyways, look at this shot here! Pretty cool, right?" He motioned with his camera.

"Perfect timing."

"Right? And then there's this one, ahhhhh, chocobos are the best…" He scrolled over to a picture he had taken of Noctis riding his chocobo, looking regal and majestic. "Ooh! And this one I snapped of Notcis riding Iggy is super cool, kinda cute actually."

Just then, the disappointing sound of fishing line snapping could be heard, as Noctis swore loudly and Ignis suddenly had a coughing fit. Beside the photographer, Gladio's head was craned back as he unleashed a torrent of deep laughter.

Prompto looked around confusedly, wondering why everyone started acting up at the same time. "… What?" Gladio laughed even harder. "I don't understand."

And because Gladiolus was a saint and couldn't leave his friend in the dark, he decided to clear things up for him. He reiterated, "Yeah, a pretty good shot of _Noctis riding Iggy_."

"Oh my god, don't say it again!" Noctis threw his sword at him, which Gladio easily caught. The prince came stomping past them, to which Gladio offered up the sword to him but Noctis kept walking. "Let's just go."

"A-ah, ummmm, I didn't mean it like that, oh gosh," Prompto stammered, having now slowly realized the horror of his words. "Uhhh… guys…?"

Ignis followed Noctis, albeit farther behind than he usually liked. He passed Gladio and took the sword that was still held out.

"Ah. Oh no," Prompto worried his lip, wanting to laugh, but embarrassment won out. The brunette beside him lay a meaty hand on his shoulder, eyes still smiling.

"Don't worry about them, it takes a lot more than some- ah- suggestive words to come between them," Gladio assured.

"I swear I didn't mean to say it like that, oh my god, you guys have dirty minds," Prompto flushed.

"Pfft, yeah, ok. Let's just head back before we lose 'em," Gladio nodded at the pair in front of them, quickly disappearing into the horizon.

"Ah, wait up guys! I'm sorry, ok?!" Prompto chased after them, leaving Gladio to shake his head and start running as well.


	2. Iggy not the chocobo

Ignis thought he was being pretty smooth about the whole… incidents. He had pretty much perfected his poker face since long ago, so he knew he seemed to be handling it well. Even if Noctis didn't want to look him in the eye, Ignis could still hold a civil conversation with him. After all, Ignis couldn't cease all interactions with the prince, that would be like breaking his only promise to the king- that being to stay by his side through it all. Though Ignis had to admit, he never thought a chocobo would be the one to test that promise.

And then Prompto had come up to him as soon as they settled for camp; it was the same day of the- uh- third. Incident. And he'd stammered apologies and said some variation of, "I mean I don't even know if you guys are like that, I didn't ruin anything did I?"

Ignis turned from the makeshift kitchen to stare openly, then remembered himself and turned back. He cleared his throat before speaking. A quick, "What?"

Prompto fretted even more, quickly checking the area before coming closer so he may whisper-yell, "Oh geez, I mean, that- I know it's probably supposed to be a secret and that kinda hurts y'know I'm your friend I wouldn't judge you and-"

Ignis had put his hand out to silence him. He was rambling and Ignis didn't know where he was going with this. "What are you talking about? And with more punctuation, please."

Prompto only kicked the ground, looking quickly from the foot of the table, to Ignis and back to the ground. He scratched the back of his head and Ignis thought he could see him turning red, but that could've easily been the light from the campfire glowing upon his features.

"Haaa… Yeah I might've heard you guys once…"

Ignis really couldn't do much more than stare, it seemed like his poker face was truly being tested.

"Ah! But like, I walked away as soon as I heard anything, I swear! And I haven't told anyone, not even Gladio, because I didn't know if it was like secret and I was gonna ask you guys soon but then we were off to the desert and I couldn't find a good time-"

"Punctuation, Prompto," Ignis had to remind him. Prompto was spouting words a mile a minute and Ignis still didn't know what was happening. "Okay. What did you hear, exactly?"

At this, the blonde most definitely flushed. The poor boy looked like he was about to explode. "A-ah! O-oh. Um. Well I just heard Noct say your name and then… some… other stuff… And I left right after!"

What.

Noctis saying his name? Why would that make Prompto turn into a literal beet?

"I'm afraid you're going to have to be clearer."

"Geez! Why do you need to know?!" Prompto sought refuge by raising his hands to his face, mostly muffling the rest of his speech. " 's was jus like… moans… guess…"

…

"And when was this?"

"Couple years back, back at the palace… Six, Ignis, if anything you sure taught me to respect people's privacy. I just wanted to play some videogames at his fancy room. I'm forever traumatized."

Ignis was a bright guy, it didn't take more explanation.

Still. Ignis was still confused. Certainly, he was just misunderstanding. Prompto didn't enunciate things quite right and mixed words together. Clearly, Ignis wasn't as well-versed in slang as much as he thought himself to be. He had just… misheard things.

Two sets of footsteps approached, along with Gladio's assumed teasing and Noctis' angry response. Prompto looked up, feeling glad he had an excuse to leave now. "Well! I'll leave the cooking to you, Iggy!" And with that, he practically sprinted over to the others.

So Ignis was left with his own thoughts- dangerous thoughts- and proceeded to go through a couple of different stages. First was denial: _I just heard Prompto wrong, or maybe Noctis was having a nightmare, or maybe he had fallen off the bed and unconsciously called for me, I wouldn't be surprised…_

Then there was some good old self-deprecation: _I've never even let Noctis hug me much, we wouldn't… do such a thing. It'd be preposterous!_ _As if Noctis would even think of me in that way, what I have here is just one-sided feelings that will forever remain just that; one-sided. I think too highly of myself._

At the end, there was begrudging acceptance: _Prompto said a few years back, right? Noctis was a growing boy, he was just… experiencing new feelings for the first time. It would make sense. I've spent the most time with him. He'd probably latch onto me while everything was new and scary._

"What's cooking, good-looking?"

At this point Ignis' mask had fallen and shattered, leaving him to choke on air and turn red-faced to a smirking Noctis. This wasn't in his job description.

Noctis' smirk fell quick, noticing how tense and stiff Ignis looked. "Oh, uh, was that not cool? Gladio said it was cool, I don't know, I just-"

Ignis barely registered the aforementioned's laughter in the background.

"No, uh Noctis, you're fine. I must take a walk, it's a bit warm outside. Maybe I'll go back to that pond." With that, Ignis stopped mid-way through his cooking and started walking away. He thought he heard Noctis swear and call out to him, but kept walking.

He couldn't help but think he was shirking away his duties, but by the Light, he couldn't do this right now.

This most certainly wasn't in the job description.

* * *

Actually, this was probably Ignis' fault. He'd pushed Noctis away, pushed him away when he was finally trying to engage normally with him, and he'd pushed him to spend his time with the _other_ Iggy. That damned chocobo that wasn't even the right shade, why did Noctis name him that, did he even stop to think how confusing it would be? He was, oh my, he was being outdone and replaced by a bird!

Noctis had been spending more gil than was necessary on the chocobos, insisting on them resting at camp with the crew and buying more and more greens for them. While Ignis didn't want to ruin the fun (mostly), he had to confront him about the spendings. Gas wasn't free (Yes, that's the only reason he wanted to put a stop to this, the gil, think of the wasted gil).

They had just finished a fight with some hundlegs and Noctis was looking particularly tired. He hadn't thought to pull out the chocobo whistling just yet. Ignis approached him.

"Noct, maybe we should let the chocobos have some peace, yes? They've been galloping with us for days."

The prince only gave him a blank stare. "It's fine. Right Prompto?"

"I don't know Noct, like I thought I had an unhealthy obsession with 'em but you're something else…"

"You too?!" Noctis looked appalled. He then schooled his face back into his usual frown. "I mean it doesn't really matter, I guess." Noctis started off, noticing the blue ethereal glow of a campsite nearby against the setting sun. "Should probably rest soon anyways."

Ignis grimaced. He didn't think he would give up this easily. Off to his side he heard Prompto exclaim "Camp again?!" and the some arguing between him and Gladio. Under different circumstances, Ignis would've joked that Noctis had given it all to the birds, but Noctis looked more irritable than normal and Ignis would rather not put himself at risk like that.

* * *

At camp, Prompto had tried poking fun at Noctis, presumably to cheer him up. Needless to say, it hadn't worked. As soon as he had finished his meal, he headed straight into the tent. Prompto and Gladio had stared after him, then turned their gazes upon Ignis at the same time. Ignis was only a little freaked out.

"Is there something on my face?" He wiped at his mouth.

"You should probably go talk to him," Prompto said at the same time Gladio said,

"Go in there and beat some sense into him."

Ignis couldn't reiterate it enough. This was _not_ in his job description.

"Why me? Prompto, you know how to cheer people up more than… just about anyone really," Ignis stared at his half-full plate and added, "I'm not even done eating," He protested.

Gladio reached over to grab the two remaining skewers of meat and passed one to Prompto.

"Now you are."

"Rude," Ignis huffed. "…Fine."

Ignis walked over and unzipped the tent door, peering in and barely making out Noctis' prone form. "Noctis?" He whispered, hoping against hope he was already asleep. The seconds ticked on and Ignis was about to back out and call it quits before Noctis made a small, questioning grunt.

"Did I interrupt your sleep?"

"Mn. Kinda. It's fine," The prince replied with a tone indicating he had been wide awake.

"Do you have a minute?" Ignis had stepped in and re-zipped the tent door, blocking out the campfire and plunging them into darkness. He tried not to step on any stray limbs as he sat down.

"What's up?" Noctis said more than questioned from somewhere to his left.

Ignis had to pause. How to say this eloquently, without sounding accusing or…?

"Just spit it out, Specs. It's fine. I can hear you thinking from all the way over here."

"Hmm, yes. Okay. Well. The others and I have been… worried about you, Noct. You're quiet, more so than usual. While I pride myself on being able to know exactly what's bothering you, I just can't seem to figure it out this time." Ignis sighed, taking his glasses off, seeing as he had no need for them in the dark tent. Couldn't see much of anything anyway. "Is it all the ah- improper things you've managed to say-"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"I- okay. I'm not accusing you Noct, I just. I know you mean well. I just don't want this to cause a rift in our friendship. You are important to me, and I don't like seeing you like this. After all, we've got a long journey ahead of us," Ignis grimaced in the dark. "We are the ones responsible for delivering you to Altissia. Can't have you grumpy on your reunion with Lady Lunafreya."

Ignis knew he was treading a thin line here, teasing him only worked sometimes. He just wanted Noctis to come out of his shell. Perhaps it was just anxiety that Noctis was experiencing.

Noctis just grunted.

Perhaps this wasn't the best approach.

Ignis moved closer, making sure to rustle the sleeping bags on the ground so Noctis would hear him. He reached out, realized Noctis had sat up, and grabbed a firm hold on the prince's (he should really start saying and thinking king by now) knee.

"We just want the best for you. Trust us. Confide in us, Noctis."

Ignis thought he could hear the other gulp, but he wasn't sure.

"I'm… I'm weird, Ignis."

Ignis huffed, but refused to laugh. "Yes, but that isn't necessarily bad."

"No, ugh, you don't understand."

The advisor waited for him to continue, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. "Okay. Even though it may seem like I am a mind reader at times, I am not, Noct." At this, Noctis snorted amusedly. Good. Progress. "Maybe try telling me what's going on? I'll try to help to the best of my ability. It's my duty, naturally."

Then Noctis went deadly silent.

Ah. He'd messed that up, hadn't he?

Before he could begin to repair the damage, Noctis began in a poorly concealed irritated tone, "Is that the only reason why? Because my dad asked you to?"

Ignis retracted his hand on Noctis' knee. He'd upset him further. Why did the others deem him worthy to do this? "No, Noct, you know that's not what I meant-"

The other shifted, mumbled " 'm gonna sleep." And left the tent in silence.

Ignis moved to the other side of the tent, wanting to give him privacy, but just then the others came in and livened up the tent once more. Even if it was just them arguing about the best kinds of food or something inane like that.

At least Ignis didn't have to suffer in silence.


	3. Interlude

Time passed but their relationship didn't seem to get any better. Usually Noctis just needed time to brood and things slowly but surely returned to normal (even if Ignis had to help it along some). This was not one of those times.

While Noctis was pulling away from him, Prompto was getting closer to Ignis. The bespectacled man wasn't sure if it was out of misplaced guilt. Nonetheless, it was nice to have the constant chatter in his ears to distract him from his thoughts.

And Gladiolus? He seemed to be weathering the situation better than all of them. Although at times it looked like he would snap at Noctis, he held it back and ruffled the blue-black locks a bit more forcefully than normal.

…Actually, it'd been awhile since Prompto fell quiet. Ignis turned to look at the blonde and was confronted with the smushed face of his. He'd pushed his cheeks together to make a 'fishy face' as he'd so called it, and was staring Ignis down with very serious-looking eyes.

For once, Ignis laughed.

At that, Prompto grinned for second, then continued to make even weirder faces.

"What are you doing?" He managed to gasp out. "Please, spare me, I can't."

The other giggled while he was trying maintain a new expression, one that featured him pulling his nostrils up and sticking his tongue out.

Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by the others. As Noctis simply looked confused and only the slightest bit irritated, Gladio decided to join in on the fun and compete with Prompto in what had turned into a weird face-off. Ignis laughed again and pushed them away playfully, adjusting his glasses.

"Why do I have to deal with you man-children?"

"Cuz my good looks trumps all," Prompto grinned, taking the time to wink at Ignis. Gladio thankfully shoved him to the side to boast.

"Please, they don't trump _this_ ," and proceeded to flex.

Finally, finally, Noctis chuckled lowly. Ignis smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

Sadly, they'd already arrived at the car, and the fun was cut to a minimum. They got down to business as the four packed their stuff in the most efficient manner possible, leaving little room in the trunk. Frankly, they could afford to put a bag or two in the backseat, but Noctis complained he already had a titan sitting with him to deal with, and couldn't spare anymore space.

Once everything was settled they took off, heading to the nearest tipster. It seemed they were all still in high spirits, especially Prompto. After the third flash of light directed at him, Ignis started to feel a bit self-conscious. He pushed the camera aside without taking his eyes off the road, the corners of his lips tugging up.

"I'm not the only attraction here," Ignis gestured at the green wilderness around them. "Take pictures of something a bit more impressive."

"But I've already got like ten million scenic pics!"

"And you've got twenty million pictures of Iggy," Gladio interjected, laughing when Prompto turned in his seat to swat at him.

"N-no I don't! Shut up Gladio!"

"Prompto, please, it's dangerous," The advisor warned sternly, even if he was still fighting a grin.

Chocobo-butt huffed and plopped back down in his seat. At this point, the crew seemed to run out of energy, letting the constant hum of the engine calm them down. Ignis took this time to look in the rear-view mirror to see Noctis frowning once more. He seemed almost distraught.

 _Shit_. While Ignis had been having fun in his own little world, he hadn't noticed when his charge took a turn for the worse.

At the next stop, most definitely. This needed to be confronted.


	4. Iggy- No Chocobos In Sight

Noctis was trying, that much Ignis could see. He was trying to make things go back to normal, forcing conversation with him; but it was just that, forced. It was painful, not just to Ignis but to the others as well- if their expressions were anything to go by. It seemed Gladio and Prompto had formed their own pact to talk amongst themselves and leave the others two out of it. Ignis wasn't sure they were silently pushing them to talk things out or if they just wanted nothing to do with the situation.

Once it started affecting combat was when Ignis deigned it enough, Noctis' unwillingness be damned.

And yet, Noctis brushed him off every time. Prompto shot him sympathetic looks. Ignis didn't want pity. He just wanted to be able to talk to Noctis casually again.

Ignis had caught up to Noctis while on a hunt and attempted to bring up these past few, ah, incidents.

"Ignis, it's fine. So can we just not?" The other huffed, exasperated.

Ignis couldn't believe it! This was the first time he'd gotten such an obvious refusal. Clearly agitated now, Ignis prepared to push the subject when Gladio shouted from behind them, "Wasps up ahead!"

They both looked up to find the huge insects flying around behind a patch of trees. Noctis glanced at his advisor before warping into the swarm. Ignis sighed, already thinking up ways to get Noctis by himself after the fight.

It shouldn't have taken so long. For some reason, the crew seemed to become more susceptible to confusion and they seemed to be causing each other more harm than the wasps. Between confused swiping at anything moving, pushing through clouds of poison and dodging stingers, it was near impossible to pass out antidotes or smelling salts.

When the dust finally cleared, Ignis looked around to find Prompto still poisoned and Gladio still afflicted as he continued to swing at nothing. After he took care of the pair, Ignis swiveled around to look for Noctis. Walking around the area proved to be useless. With worry increasing exponentially, Ignis began calling out to his charge.

Thankfully, he didn't have to shout for long. Gladio alerted the others, "Found him!" as he began to lift him out of a bush near the edge of the battleground. Ignis sighed in relief and jogged over to help Gladio.

Noctis looked pale, paler than usual, blue veins splintering up through his neck and cheeks. He seemed to be out of it, eyes gazing through Ignis. This did nothing but panic him further, shakily pressing an antidote into Noctis' hands. Prompto appeared at his side. "Is he gonna be ok?" the blonde asked Ignis with huge, baby blue eyes.

"He's gonna hafta be," Gladio grunted, pulling him into his arms and standing up.

The antidote brought some color back into Noctis' skin, but the blue veins remained. Ignis wanted to examine him fully right then and there, but the smarter choice would be to get back to camp first.

Ignis grimaced.

* * *

Back at camp, Prompto and Ignis wasted no time rolling out a sleeping bag and getting out a first-aid kit. Ignis was by the prince's side as soon as Gladio set him down, pulling out a handkerchief and dousing it in water from their stash before placing it over Noctis' too warm forehead.

"Noctis. Noctis, please, stay awake," He pleaded, grabbing ahold of Noctis' arm and shaking it slightly. "Where does it hurt?" Ignis searched his face for any sign of pain, then moved down to find any injuries on his person.

Noctis just groaned. "Everywhere. I…"

His advisor could barely hear him over the rustling of Prompto shifting side to side and Gladio rummaging through their supplies.

Noctis looked down and Ignis followed his line of sight to his right leg. There was a damp spot on the side of his thigh, but other than that, there didn't seem to be a tear on his pants. If Ignis wasn't so terrified for Noctis' health, he probably would've hesitated to pull any piece of clothing off him. However, now wasn't the time to dawdle.

Wrapped around a ghastly white thigh was some bandages, ones that Ignis gave to Noctis when he'd been slashed by ruthless coeurl a few days back. They'd been a pristine white before, but now they were stained a bloody red with a hole poking through the middle. The blue veins seemed most prominent from here, spiraling their way out. With as much care as he could manage, Ignis began unravelling the bandages.

The wound itself was inflamed and flushed red, pus freely running down the side now. Looking closer, Ignis saw the jagged end of a stinger lodged in the wound. It must've broken off while Noctis fought back.

Prompto seemed ready to cry and puke at the same time. To give him something to do, Ignis asked him to bring a pair of tweezers, which he brought quickly.

When Ignis dislodged the offending stinger, Noctis let out a sudden yell. The bespectacled man looked up in alarm only to find him already knocked out. "No, no," Ignis mumbled, shuffling over to pull out a flashlight, force an eyelid open and shine it over the eye. Luckily, the pupil constricted. It seemed he'd only passed out from the pain. Not exactly reassuring, but it could be worse.

Prompto's sickly white skin rivalled Noctis' now. Ignis sighed, turned to face Prompto and the incoming Gladio, and tossed Gladio the car keys. The taller tossed a hi-elixer in return. "Go find some antibiotics, maybe some ibuprofen as well."

"Got it. Anything else?" He asked, already dragging the jittery blonde with him.

"More water, a couple of those electrolyte drinks if you can find any."

"Already on it!"

As the pair jogged out of sight, Ignis stepped away to attempt to wash his hands with a water bottle and his own bar of soap. After some tricky maneuvers, he'd gotten his hands clean. Now to attend to Noctis.

Perhaps it was for the best that Noctis was passed out. Ignis had to drain the abscess, clean the wound, then re-dress it. With that, he squeezed the hi-elixer into Noctis' hands for him. He couldn't do much more until the others got here.

His eyes roamed over Noctis, taking in the pallor of his skin and sweat soaking his top. The breeze ruffling the trees around them disproved Ignis' theory that maybe it really was that hot outside.

Really, taking Noctis' bottom portion of his clothes was necessary, but now? Now Ignis hesitated to remove any more.

Still…

He looked truly uncomfortable…

* * *

Noctis awoke to the smell of something heavenly. With much effort, he pushed himself up on his elbows. His eyes struggled to focus as he assessed himself. He was clad in only his undershirt and briefs. There was a small blanket thrown over his legs, but that didn't help his embarrassment much.

Geez, what had happened? He hadn't gotten drunk, had he? Six, he hoped he hadn't done anything too mortifying.

As he moved to pull the blanket off and put some clothes on, he noticed the blanket wasn't a blanket at all. In fact, it was a jacket. A black suit jacket. Noctis could recognize this jacket from anywhere.

Outside he could hear voices. Noctis stood, wincing and putting all his weight on his left leg. He caught sight of new bandages wrapped around his thigh and wondered when that had happened. Nevertheless, he pushed the thought away and set to find clothes.

He'd only managed to slip on Ignis' jacket and was rummaging through his duffel bag for some shorts at the very least before he heard the unzipping on the tent door. He turned faster than what his head thought was acceptable and pitched forward.

The other was quick to catch Noctis under his armpits, huffing with effort. "Highness, be more careful," Ignis' smooth voice reprimanded him. The ravenette shivered in reponse. "You mustn't be up, come now," He led him back to the sleeping bag.

With Noctis laying back down, Ignis took a moment to stare at him with narrowed eyes. Noctis idly wondered if Ignis took offense to him wearing the jacket. However, the moment was over when Ignis pulled out a tube of some sort cream.

"We're going to need to apply this to your wound."

And with that, he proceeded to remove the bandages. Noctis flinched, feeling the other's cool fingers against his burning skin a sudden, but not exactly unpleasant, surprise. Ignis must've mistook it for pain.

"Sorry. Bear with me."

Noctis grumbled. He didn't know if whatever had happened before was making him delirious, but he suddenly felt the need to apologize to his chamberlain.

"Igs, Iggy, Ignis…"

The man glanced up at him as acknowledgment and continued to work on the gash.

"I'm sorry, oh my god I'm sorry, Specs, please-"

"Noctis, what-"

"I was a dick to you. To the others. It isn't right… it's just, well… y'know…" Noctis now had his arms folded over his eyes; he couldn't bear to see Ignis' rejection. The other hurried to finish redressing the wound so he could tug at the prince's arms.

"Noctis," Ignis sighed heavily. Noctis could hear more coming, knew that tone. "His Highness should worry more about getting better."

…

Noctis waited and waited but didn't get the scolding he thought he would receive. Ignis really was going soft on him.

But he wasn't going to stand for it. Noctis had done enough running away for the both of them. It was time to finally confront… whatever this was.

He grabbed Ignis by the arm, pulled him forward as Noctis pushed ahead. Their noses bumped and their lips bumped into each other rather harshly, Ignis' glasses cut into Noctis' cheek before being pushed askew.

Instantly, the two recoiled, rubbing at their faces.

"Fuck! That hurt!" Noctis glared down at his lap, face suddenly turned a bright red.

"Language, Noct," Ignis chastised even as he took off his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose. Once he was done with that, he placed the back of his hand against Noctis' forehead, scrutinizing him all the while. After what felt like forever, Ignis finally said something. "Noct. You're doing better but not by much. Here, I've brought you some pain killers," He turned to find a bottle of pills he'd dropped behind him but Noctis stopped him.

Was he just going to completely ignore that? Did Ignis think he was doing this because he was injured or something? There was no way he'd let him go, not when he knew they'd just go back to ignoring each other, pretending to be fine in front of Gladio and Prompto.

"Ignis. C'mon. Don't do this."

"Do what?"

Noctis' eyes burned bright with building anger. He was about to tell him off when the other interrupted him.

"Highness, you're clearly not well. I'm not sure what you were trying to do just now but I know how clumsy you can be. You need not apologize," Ignis was able to look him in the eye but not without his cheeks darkening a bit.

Noctis vaguely thought that was a cute look on him.

"Ok, maybe that wasn't exactly what I was going for, maybe I messed up-" Ignis gave him an I-told-you-so look, "But! … Argh… let me just show you what I was tryna do…"

Noctis leaned in slowly this time, giving Ignis more than enough time to stop him, but for whatever reason Ignis didn't.

* * *

Noctis was… clumsy, just as he'd said. Their noses bumped again, albeit less abruptly, until Ignis placed a hand on Noctis' chin to tilt them. Noctis only pursed his lips for a while, not seeming to know what to do or where to place his hands. Ignis ran his own hands over Noctis' arms, slid them down to grab his wrists and place them over his shoulders.

He relaxed slightly, finally following Ignis' example and started moving his lips against the other's. The advisor smiled into the kiss.

The kiss was so sweet and innocent, so very Noct fashion, trying to learn fast without looking like he was trying. It ended before Ignis got to have any fun, but that was fine. Noctis was ducking his head and blushing underneath his black-blue bangs, fingers digging into Ignis' shoulders.

Noctis suddenly looked up, azure eyes boring into him, filled with hope and anxiety and something else Ignis couldn't place.

"Ah, u-um… I-Iggy," His voice slightly cracked on the 'I' of his name, another thing to be added on the list of Endearing Things That Noct Does. "Was… Was that uh, ok?"

Was that ok? _Was that ok?_

To answer his question, Ignis planted another one on him, this one lasting longer than their first one. Noctis eventually pulled away to breath. Oh, they'd have to practice that if Noctis got so breathless so easily. Ignis lingered, a smile now glued to his face. He kissed his prince on the corner of his mouth, grinning wider when Noctis turned to kiss him fully on the lips and Ignis pulled back.

"Tease," He groaned, blush crawling down his neck.

Ignis was about to reply when Prompto burst into the tent. "Iggy! Is Noct oka-…"

Prompto took one look at Ignis' glasses-free face and Noctis' still-bare legs and squeaked.

"Oh my god, not _again!_ "

As quickly as Prompto had appaeared, he disappeared, leaving Ignis to groan and Noctis to stutter confusedly.

Outside they heard Prompto's distressed yelling. "No! Don't go in there!"

"Huh? I'm just gonna tell Igs to eat, I ain't gonna infect Noct if that's what you're-" Gladio rumbled back

"You can't! I mean, uh, um, UM! Specs told us we should go find some meat to put in the stew!"

"I thought we already had some?"

"He wants anak meat! Cuz like it's a healthier option or something…"

There was a terse silence when Ignis thought Gladio would ignore Prompto and come in, but Gladio acquiesced.

"I don't know anything about that but if Ignis said so…"

"Great! Let's go! Right now!"

Then they heard Gladio's distinct deep grumble and feet shuffling away. They waited until they could hear nothing else but the fire crackling outside. They let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

"Iggy, that was almost too much for my heart to take," Noctis stated. Ignis laughed a soothing, sparkling laugh. Noctis couldn't help but smile with him.

"Put some clothes on, I'll go get you some food. You must be starving."

At the mention of food, Noctis' stomach growled. Ignis smirked, willing himself not to laugh further. As he made his way towards the exit of the tent, Noctis called out meekly, "What- um, what does this make us? Ignis, you have to know, I li-"

"Noctis. We can figure it out on the way. We have time," Truly, Ignis didn't know much time they had left, or how or when he'd gotten this bravado and smoothness. Even so, that didn't stop him from feeling good at the moment. He'd rather not ruin the magic of it.

"My dear," He added at the last second, and then Ignis was out of the tent. He could hear Noctis' splutterings behind him, but he kept walking toward the small table that held some stew. He smiled.

When the others came back and Gladio gave him a suspicious look, Prompto squawked whenever they made eye contact, and even when Noctis came out and remained red-faced (which really was better than his previous pale face) throughout most of their meal, Ignis kept on smiling.


End file.
